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Social Sciences - Hot Topics - London Olympics 2012

London 2012

On the 27th July 2012 the opening ceremony of the 30th Olympic Games will take place in East London. This will be the third time that London has hosted the summer Olympics, the previous occasions being in 1908 and 1948.

The 2012 Games aim to achieve four main legacy benefits.

* To leave behind world-class sports facilities, which meet a clearly defined sporting need and become the heart of existing communities

*To enhance the opportunities and support available to Britain's competitors across the range of Olympic & Paralympic sports.

*To drive the regeneration of the east of London, delivering a high quality environment for business and opportunities for local people.

* To create a major new urban park - the biggest created in Europe in 150 years.

There are plans to hold some events in other parts of England . For example the sailing competitions are to take place in Weymouth. Football events are taking place in Cardiff and other places.

Timeline for the 2012 Olympics Bid

18/06/2003
The American businesswoman Barbara Cassani is appointed as the Chair of the bid to bring the 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympics to London.

September 2003
*Keith Mills is appointed as Chief Executive
*Mike Lee becomes Director of Communications & Public Affairs
*Andrew Craig is appointed as Consultant to the bid
*Steve Parry becomes Director of Media
*Charles Allen CBE & Lord Coe & Alan Pascoe MBE are appointed as vice chairmen

16/01/04
The London 2012 Olympic bid team unveil the detail and concept of London's bid to stage the Games and outline its far-reaching impact should London win the bid.

18/05/04
The IOC announce the list of candidate cities. They are: London, Paris, Madrid, New York & Moscow.

19/05/04
It is announced that Lord Coe will take over from Barbara Cassani as Chair of London's bid.

15/11/04
Candidate cities submit their full candidate files to the IOC.

May 2005
The IOC Evaluation Committee circulate the evaluation report to IOC members.

06/07/05
IOC members vote to select the 2012 host city. London is declared the winner.

2008Construction of the Olympic Stadium begins at Marshgate Lane in Stratford, East London. The capacity is 80,000.

2011

The Olympic Stadium is built.

2012

March : A report by a Parliamentary public accounts committee says that the public cost of the Olympics has risen to £11 billion from a budget of £9.3 billion.

May 18th The Olympic flame is lit in Greece and carried to the UK , where it's taken by many runners around the country covering most centres of population from May 19th till it reaches the Olympic Stadium on July 27th.

June 30, July 1 and 2. The Olympic Torch is carried through the Black Country and Birmingham area.

Mid-July: With weeks to go before the opening, the attention shifts to security group G4S who have the contract for security of the games. It is reported they cannot manage and soldiers and police are brought in to help.

July 24th - BBC 2 TV Comedy series "2012" about the games comes to an end.It's the first time a satire on the Games organisation has been shown. It started in 2011 and was hailed as a success by TV critics and won Best Sitcom in the 2011 British Comedy Awards.

July 25th- In what could be an incident on the 2012 comedy programme, the flag of South Korea is shown instead of the North Korean one at an Olympics women's football match. The North Korean team walk off in protest, the match is later resumed.

July 27th - The Opening of the Games starts with a multi- media and live show consisting of the brief storytelling of modern British History. Film director Danny Boyle uses a number of surprises including Rowan Atkinson as Mr Bean and The Queen as herself in a spoof meeting with James Bond. It attracts a huge worldwide audience. Paul McCartney closes the show with "Hey Jude" .

28-30th Controversy stalks the Games again as rows of empty seats appear, even when a lot of events have officially sold out of tickets.

July 30thThe Team GB Men's Gymnastics Team ( Louis Smith, Kristian Thomas,Daniel Purvis, Max Whitlock and Sam Oldham) win a bronze medal. The first team medal in a century in this sport.

July 31stThe Eventing Team in horse-riding wins silver, they include the Queen's grand-daughter Zara Phillips and Tina Cook, Nicola Wilson, Mary King and William Fox-Pitt.

August 1st .Team GBs first Gold medal goes to the women's rowing team of Helen Glover and Heather Stanning. They are the first British women rowers to win an Olympic gold medal. Cyclist Bradley Wiggins wins Britain's second Gold medal of the day in the Men's Time Trial. He becomes the most successful British Olympian , as he takes his total to seven gold medals. The men's rowing team win bronze in the Men's Eight. They are Constantine Louloudis, Alex Partridge, James Foad, Tom Ransley, Ric Egington, Mo Sbihi, Greg Searle, Matt Langridge and Phelan Hill. Swimmer Michael Jamieson wins silver in the men's 200m breaststroke.

August 3rd. Gold for rowers Katherine Grainger and Anna Watkins in the Double Sculls, Bronzes for George Nash and Will Satch in the Men's Pair, and Alan Campbell in the Single Sculls. Cyclist 's, Steven Burke, Ed Clancy, Peter Kennaugh and Geraint Thomas win Gold in the Men's Team Pursuit. Also in Cycling, Victoria Pendleton wins Gold in the Women's Keirin event. Karina Bryant claims Judo Bronze. Rebecca Adlington gets a 800m Swimming Bronze.

August 4th. The so called "Super Saturday" rains Gold medals down on Team GB. Jessica Ennis in the Heptathlon, Greg Rutherford in the Long Jump, and Ethiopian born Mo Farah in the 10,000m all win Gold . Elsewhere,in Rowing it's Gold in the Men's Four for Alex Gregory, Peter Reed, Tom James and Andrew Triggs Hodge. Gold for Katherine Copeland and Sophie Hosking in the Women's Lightweight Double Sculls. In the Men's Lightweight Double Sculls, Zac Purchase and Mark Hunter take Silver. In Cycling, the Women's Team Pursuit (Dani King , Joanna Rowsell and Laura Trott) win Gold. Team GB doesn't get it all it's own way however, as the Men's Football Team are beaten by South Korea.

August 5th Cyclist Victoria Pendleton gets Silver in the Women's Sprint.Ed Clancy gets Bronze in the Men's Omnium. Tennis fans at last see Andy Murray beating Roger Federer in the singles finals to gain Gold, whilst he and Laura Robson get silver in the mixed doubles. Gymnasts Louis Smith and Max Whitlock win Silver and Bronze medals on the pommel horse. In Athletics Christine Ohuruogu wins Silver in the women's 400m .

August 9th. Women's Boxer Nicola Adams is the story of the day with a first ever Gold in the sport for Team GB. In Horse Riding, Charlotte Dujardin takes Dressage Gold and Laura Bechtolsheimer wins Bronze. In Taekwondo, Jade Jones wins Gold.

Whilst the USA got most medals and China came second , for Britain to come third means that this has been the best Olympic result so far. With 29 Golds, 17 Silver and 19 Bronze making 65 medals. After a lavish and somewhat bizarre closing ceremony of British music, the media turns their attention to legacy and seeing if there can be inspiration and facilities and funds for the next generation.